Courtesy of NCSU Libraries.
Susan Nutter, former Director of NC State University Libraries and driving force behind the creation of Hunt Library, passed away on March 25, 2019. She was instrumental in making NC State’s libraries a technology hub for students and faculty.
Before Nutter, NC State libraries were ranked among the lowest university libraries; now, it stands 37th in university libraries, according to Chancellor Randy Woodson.
“[Nutter] saw the transition of the printed world to the digital, and so she wanted to begin the transition of creating a library that really can take all the technology associated with the digital world that we all inhabit now and turn it into a learning space,” Woodson said.
Nutter first implemented technology in D.H. Hill Jr. Library as an experiment for higher learning. Woodson said that even though the building may look rudimentary on the outside, the inside is a place where students like to be.
The university, inspired by the James B. Hunt Jr. Library, has recently started renovating D.H. Hill, according to Greg Raschke, senior vice provost and current director of libraries. After working for 16 years under Nutter, Raschke took over.
“She was really driven and committed to making the libraries exceptional, to pursuing excellence in almost everything we did, and the number one thing she did was she got students and faculty really engaged in her vision,” Raschke said. “She was incredibly charming and engaging and had a great visionary appeal.”
Despite government funding for higher education being a “challenge”, Rachke said, Nutter found ways to ensure that libraries are able to provide the best study spaces possible for students at Hunt.
“If Susan hadn’t been as creative and as forceful as she was, the university might try to save money, but her creative vision for that library, she just insisted that we buy 120 different kinds of chairs,” Woodson said. “What I admired most about her was that she was a visionary, and she had the ability to compel others to follow her lead. She was hard to say ‘no’ to.”
Nutter’s crowning achievement, Hunt Library, also showcases Nutter’s personality and taste in architectural design.
“I was [at Hunt] recently, and everywhere I looked I saw Susan,” said Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Warwick Arden. “Her concept of what a great library should be, her attention to detail, the small touches in every area of the library are a representation of her.”
Nutter’s influence can also be spotted in Hill. On the third floor’s library offices, purple carpets line the floor, her favorite color.
In 2016, Nutter received the IMLS National Medal for Museum and Library Service for Hunt Library, which also received international recognition for being architecturally appealing and having a beautiful interior design, according to Arden. In 2005, she won the Library Journal’s “Librarian of the Year” award.
Raschke looked back fondly on his experiences working with Nutter.
“She was also just an incredibly generous and passionate person, and people enjoyed being around her,” Raschke said. “She was a lot of fun.”
A memorial service for Nutter will be held at Hunt Library on May 31 at 10:30 a.m. The Hill Library Color Wall is currently lit purple in her honor and will continue to be so until after the memorial service. Her memorial page can be found on the NC State University Libraries website.